


Variables

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Monsters Inc. (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon Compliant, Complicated Relationships, Family Bonding, Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse, Gen, Missing Scene, Past Child Endangerment, Past Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:14:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23797510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: What happened between Waternoose’s arrest and Mike and Sulley implementing new changes into Monsters Inc.? After getting Boo home and Waternoose arrested, Sulley has a talk with his parents.
Relationships: Bill Sullivan & James P. "Sulley" Sullivan, Henry J. Waternoose & James P. “Sulley” Sullivan, James P. "Sulley" Sullivan & Mike Wazowski, James P. “Sulley” Sullivan & Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 9
Collections: Trope Bingo: Round Fourteen





	Variables

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Original Characters
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: Not my usual, but I hope you enjoy. Even if I might have taken liberties with monster technology.

It was long after Mike had walked off in the parking lot, leaving Sulley debating his new “eureka” moment, that his phone rang.  
  
Sulley sighed and answered the phone. “Sulley here.”  
  
“Jamie!” His father’s voice. Sulley never thought that he’d be glad to hear from his father. “I haven’t been able to get in touch with you since that night that child got out. I just saw the news report; I can’t believe Waternoose would do such a thing — ”  
  
“Let the poor boy breathe,” Sulley’s mother said in a half-playful tone.   
  
Sulley’s father sighed. “Sorry. Just...you gave me a damn near heart attack. Come over and we can talk?”  
  
***  
  
Walking there took a while. Sulley hadn’t thought he’d actually go back to visit his childhood home in quite some time, but it was worth it when his mother hugged him. “Jamie...you’re okay!”  
  
“ ‘Course I am,” Sulley said. Even as he headed inside, the faint sound of a sports broadcast playing (Monstropolis had its own sports, just not like in the human world), he couldn’t help but feel tired. He didn’t regret protecting Boo, but he hadn’t just potentially lost a job as well as a human friend, he’d lost a mentor he thought was his friend, everything. How were you supposed to come back from that? Waternoose hadn’t been a complete jerk either; if he’d been irredeemable, if Sulley had a bad feeling about him in the first place, then it wouldn’t have hurt so much. If Sulley hadn’t devoted all he was to his job, it wouldn’t have hurt so much. If it hadn’t uprooted everything he was taught, everything he stood for, it wouldn’t have hurt so much.   
  
But the variables were in place, and Sulley was here.   
  
“I messed up,” he said. He’d had a flash of an idea of using laughter (based on the effects of Boo’s laughter) to be used as a new source of fuel, but would it work? And it didn’t just magically erase the fact that he and Waternoose had been friends once. Waternoose had gotten the last word in, and the last word hurt.   
  
Could Sulley prove him wrong?   
  
“You didn’t, Jamie,” Sulley’s mother said. “You did the right thing, protecting that girl, sending her home...”  
  
“I don’t regret that. It’s...him. Not Randall, Waternoose.”  
  
Sulley’s mother growled softly. “That...abomination,” she murmured. “If it wasn’t for the fact that he’s in prison now, I’d beat him up myself for what he did to you."  
  
“What if he’s right?” Sulley said. “He wouldn’t have been doing this in the first place if...”  
  
“Jamie, he was intending to basically torture that poor little girl...”  
  
“I know,” Sulley said firmly. “I don’t regret protecting her. It’s...everything else. He said it would be my fault if the company died.”  
  
“You didn’t threaten him into kidnapping that girl. You didn’t mind control him into doing what he did. Even if he was desperate, Waternoose’s actions were his fault,” Sulley’s mother said. “I don’t know what I would have done if I were him, but there’s a point where good intentions don’t cancel out bad decisions, or the harm you’ve done. You did everything right.” A pause. “Waternoose was just trying to hurt you. That or he doesn’t realize that free will exists, and we can choose to do the right or wrong thing.”  
  
“Always the sensible one,” Sulley’s father said lightly.   
  
Sulley’s mother smiled, but it was a bit feeble. Then, more seriously, “Jamie, you did nothing wrong. He’s the one in the wrong. For lying to you, for banishing you and Mike without a good reason, for everything. And Monsters Incorporated will bounce back. It just depends on what you want to do.” A beat. “I raised a brilliant boy. He’ll figure something out.”  
  
***  
  
It was after dinner that Sulley thought back to his earlier idea. Remembering how Boo’s laughter had all but shorted out power, lit up doors. It would be revolutionary without a doubt, and probably not everyone would like it. It wasn’t just a corporation, but upending beliefs that monster civilization had been built on.   
  
Could he do it?   
  
Then again, whatever was possible to save the company, an entire civilization...  
  
Calling Mike was his next step. Even as Mike muttered something indistinct, Sulley felt a pattering of excitement in his chest. This could save everything. This could...  
  
“Whaddisit?” Mike muttered sleepily.   
  
“Mike,” Sulley said, “I know how to stop the energy crisis.”


End file.
